


A Mingling of Magics

by Astraea802



Category: Avalon High (2010), Merlin (TV), Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010)
Genre: 2010s, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Avalon High AU, Coming of Age, Crossover, Episode: s03e11 The Sorcerer's Shadow, Gen, Magic, Male Friendship, Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Issues, Merlin AU, Modern Era, New York City, Post Avalon High, Post-Season/Series 03 AU, Post-Series, Season/Series 03, Sorcerer's Apprentice AU, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-13
Updated: 2016-04-10
Packaged: 2018-05-20 23:50:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6030382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Astraea802/pseuds/Astraea802
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>"Well then, I guess introductions are in order,” the high-schooler said[...].“I’m Miles.”</em>
  <br/>
  <em>The college student waved. “Dave.”</em>
  <br/>
  <em>The boy in the neckerchief, quite nonchalantly, said, “Merlin.”</em>
  <br/>
  <em>The air seemed to still. The friendly smiles of the two other sorcerers slipped off, both letting a single word drop from their lips:</em>
  <br/>
  <b>“What.”</b>
</p><p> </p><p>Sorcerer's apprentice Dave was already having a rough week, when his dragon ring dropped two strangers at his feet:</p><p>Miles, a teenager just coming into his own powers, and...</p><p>Well… </p><p>  <em>Merlin.</em></p><p>As the three become involved in a battle of good and evil that has been raging since Camelot, they discover foes of Camelot's past, startling truths about their destinies, and a connection to each other that proves their meeting to be more than accidental.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Apprentice

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, everyone! Welcome to _A Mingling of Magics_! I've been working on this for four years now over on fanfiction.net. I thought I'd give the AO3 crowd a try and have the chance to revise some of this old girl while I'm reposting. 
> 
> In terms of the mental health issues, I'm taking a somewhat casual tone to match that of _The Sorcerer's Apprentice,_ thought I am also trying to take the issue somewhat more seriously than the film did. I have had some personal experience with anxiety, and have looked up nervous breakdowns a bit, but considering I first wrote this four years ago, when I knew little about this kind of stuff, it might not be as realistic a treatment as it could be. I hope this won't stop people from reading, but I understand if you'd rather not see these issues portrayed this way. I'm still working through it myself.

Manhattan could be described as impressive at any time of day, but at night it truly shined.

Lights of every color glared and glimmered as far as the eye could see, like a sea of stars. In fact, when standing on top of it, the Chrysler Building didn't merely scrape the sky, but was already immersed in it.

Yet this majesty did little to soothe Dave Stutler's mind. The bitter fall breeze reached him easily up here, sinking into his bones. Nonetheless, if he had to sort out his problems anywhere, this was the best place to do it. It gave him a different perspective on the city he traversed through every day, a city that, through good times and bad, was his home. And he needed a different perspective right now.

_"You saw the world in your own way."_

Becky's words kept echoing in Dave's head, and the grin that came to his face was nearly as bright as the city lights themselves. ' _She likes me. She still likes me.'_  He shook his head, elated but... bewildered. Earlier that evening, he had chased her away trying to explain why he wasn't ready for their "date." He certainly couldn't say his cleaning spell had gone haywire and enchanted mops were now flooding his lab, because

1\. It was even more humiliating than forgetting a date, and

2\. She wasn't allowed to know he could enchant mops in the first place.

So she'd left, thinking he'd forgotten. He'd assumed she'd want nothing to do with him anymore, that he was no longer worth her time.

And who would blame her? After all, what was he to her? A physics nerd whose life outside of class amounted to working on his tesla coils. (Though, he had managed to use said coils to put on quite an impressive light show for her.) He knew that made him a weirdo. His roommate, Bennet, was the latest in a string of peers (ally and bully alike) to remind him of this fact consistently.

But, it was what he _loved_. Ever since he was little, playing with the workings of the world fascinated him. One of his proudest moments was his fourth grade field trip to New York (he'd lived in Jersey, then), when he drew King Kong on a school bus window to line up with the Empire State Building as it passed. A simple optical illusion, but Becky, even now, thought it was cool that he could figure out how to make something like that. She liked him for being different. And back then, he had liked being different, too.

If only Becky knew just  _how_ different he was. If only he'd known, that day, that his love of physics was horrifically entwined with the thing that would haunt him for the next ten years :

_Magic._

That day, his tenth birthday, he'd learned magic was real, getting caught in a duel between the good sorcerer Balthazar Blake and his nemesis, Maxim Horvath. But the evidence of the battle, as well as the sorcerers themselves, was swept into a mystical urn (yes, seriously, an _urn_ ) the moment he tried to tell his teacher. His psyche shattered in front of the whole fourth grade class, in an event that was still known in some parts of the tri-state area as "pulling a David Stutler."

But, in his mind, the infamy was not the worst part of the whole mess. Nor was it the fact that he'd had to change schools and put up with a number of misguided therapists, until finding one that cared more about him than about his "hallucinations."

It was the fact that Becky Barnes, then and now the prettiest and nicest girl he'd ever met, had seen it all, and stared with pity as he was taken away.

Worst. Birthday.  _Ever._

But he wondered, now, if maybe his twentieth birthday, just a few days before, should take top ranking in that category. Because, apparently, the only thing worse than getting nearly killed by a couple of sorcerers...is when the sorcerers come back.

Dave leaned on the railing and sighed, closing his eyes. He had tried to learn sorcery under Balthazar. He had the bruises and burn marks to prove it! He even kind of enjoyed it. Because with magic, like with molecular physics, he could play with how things worked. It seemed like, for a moment, he could be the powerful sorcerer Balthazar believed he was.

But, it was one thing to be powerful.

It was another thing to be powerful enough to defeat an evil witch determined to enslave mankind, one that had killed Merlin -  _the_ Merlin - himself. And he was supposed to do this without his magic ring? He barely grasped it _with_  the ring.

How could _he_  be the Prime Merlinean?

But Balthazar insisted that he was, so he pushed and he pushed, despite Dave's wishes. He was like those fathers with such high expectations for their children they completely ignore the children's own desires.

Of course, Balthazar was slightly more intense than any of those fathers because

1\. He was expecting Dave to literally save the world, and

2\. He could throw _freaking plasma bolts_ if he was dissatisfied.

"He doesn't get it," Dave muttered to the breeze, gripping the railing as he fought the leaden anxiety and exhaustion that threatened to pull him under. "He doesn't get how hard this is. I'm not like him. He  _chose_ this. I..." He sighed, glaring down at the weighty, dragon-shaped ring on his finger that proclaimed his so-called destiny. "... I never wanted this. Any of this." He brought the ring closer to his face until he could see a dim reflection of his fluffy dark hair, pointed nose, and small eyes in the emerald's surface. "I just want to be Dave. Not the Prime Merlinean. Not the basket case. Just Dave."

So why was he still so unwilling, after all these years, to just throw the ring away?

Dave stared into the little dragon's face. Ten years ago, he first saw that face. He'd taken the statuette in hand, and, for twelve incredible seconds, it had lived, blinking up at him before choosing him as its bearer. He wondered, for the first time, if it could hear him? Could it _listen_ to him?

"I just wish someone could understand."

The face remained impassive, the eyes cold. Dave sighed and let his arm drop. "God, I'm sappy." Tired of bemoaning his fate, he turned to leave the observation deck.

But then, the ring grew warm.

Dave jerked his head down to see the emerald glowing, brighter than he'd ever seen before, as a low humming reverberated in his ears. "Oh, this can't be good!" His arm flailed as though trying to get rid of a giant spider, shouting anything that might get the ring to stop. The wind whirled around him, billowing through his clothes, as his eyes were forced shut by the blinding light of the ring.

And then, as soon as it had started, it _stopped_. The air stilled, the ring cooling on his finger.

Eventually, Dave found the courage to open his eyes and face whatever the ring had done. But, as he skimmed across his line of vision, he saw nothing unusual. Maybe, for once, he'd caught a break with all the magical stuff.

Then, he glanced down.

"...Bwuh?!"

Bodies. Two bodies. Lying unconscious. Right in front of him.

"What – but how – and they – I didn't – it just – ?!" He glared at the ring. "Seriously?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, two guesses who just showed up XD.  
> This first part is mostly exposition for Sorcerer's Apprentice, but it's important set up for what's to come. Hope you enjoyed it! 
> 
> Links to scenes mentioned in this chapter:  
> Dave romances Becky with tesla coils: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdIYwIWfYyo  
> Dave's tenth birthday: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CKt7rfNOB8


	2. The Wizard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dave is a nervous wreck until one of the new arrivals, Miles, awakens. As they tentatively get to know each other and figure out what the heck happened, neither notices the other arrival beginning to stir...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick thanks to AsItThunders and Merlyn Pendragon on fanfiction.net for beta-reading back in the day, as well as my friend for being supportive.

Dave paced the observation deck, his hands pressed hard against his ears as if this would keep his mind from exploding.

Eyes darting back and forth from the tops of his Converse sneakers to the two guys still sprawled on the pavement, his brain kept yelling at him (in a voice too much like Balthazar's for his liking) to check their pulses or attempt to wake them. But the main thought driving his actions, running through his brain, and tumbling from his lips was: "What did I do? What did I do? What the HELL did I do?" He felt for a moment he might join the other two on the ground, until he heard –

"Urrrrrrgghh."

Dave snapped toward the sound, and saw one of the guys shift his head. Dave bolted over to him and bent down. The stranger was smaller and probably younger than him, with rather thick eyebrows and dark, wavy hair. Dave jostled his shoulder. "Kid? Hey, kid? You okay?"

 

_'_ The first thought that occurred to Miles as he woke to find himself collapsed on the ground was : _'Man, this is getting old.'_ It seemed pretty sad that getting knocked out by intense “migraines” was becoming normal for him. Yet, as Miles became aware of the cold breeze and the hard surface underneath him, he realized something was off this time around.

The last thing he remembered was doing homework at the library.

So, _what was he doing outside?_

 

His eyes opened to find a stranger in a red sweatshirt leaning over him, whose terrified expression split into a nervous grin. "You're not dead!" the stranger gasped in relief. "Oh, thank God, that would have been bad."

Miles blinked. "Uh... yeah... it would be." Because how else do you respond to that? He sat up, the other rising to give him space. He was half a foot taller than Miles, but certainly no wider; Miles's Italian grandmother would have sat him down with a helping of lasagna on the spot. "Sorry, who are you? And what exactly am I doing here?"

And the terrified expression was back. "Ah we-we-well...you see...uh...this isn't my fault!"

Miles raised an eyebrow. "I never said it was."

Dave mentally cursed himself. _'Worst. Excuse._ _ **Ever.**_ _'_

Miles stood up, wiping down his blue-and-gray argyle sweater. "Look, I'm not blaming anyone. I just want to know what I'm doing here. And for that matter," he said, glancing around at the landing lit by large spotlights, "where is 'here?'"

Dave grimaced, but took a steadying breath and plowed ahead: "The top of the Chrysler building."

Miles stared, then smirked and crossed his arms. "The Chrysler building? Yeah right, that's in New York City." He wasn't going to fall for any practical jokes, especially one so impossible.

Dave, whose back was to the railing, smiled, stepped aside, and gestured towards the skyline. "See for yourself."

It took Miles a moment to realize what he was looking at. But as the buildings and lights beyond came into focus, he rushed toward the railing, mouth agape as he marveled at the view. "Is... is that the Empire State Building?!" he cried, pointing to the spire that jutted up from the sea of shorter buildings nearby.

Dave rolled his eyes. "Well, obviously."

"But that means... I'm really in New York City!" Miles was grinning now.

Dave nodded, standing beside him. "I told you. Cool, right?"

"Very cool!" Miles muttered, breathless. "Is this a normal thing for you?"

"Oh, no. I only came for the first time a few days ago. A... sort-of friend took me up here.” He eyed the Art Deco steel eagles that graced each corner of the landing, recalling how Balthazar had used one to pick him up and drop them here.

Which would have been cool... if Dave wasn't terrified of flying.

He shifted his gaze away from Miles, realizing he had to ask, sooner or later: “So, kid, I'm, uh..., guessing you're not from around here.”

Miles turned and glared at Dave. "'Kid?' Seriously?" he drawled in a haughty tone (one he often used in the face of those larger than him). "You can't be much older than me. You're, what, eighteen?"

Dave rolled his eyes. Because of his bony stature and his late growth spurt, he'd often been taken as younger than he was, which was annoying. "Actually, just turned twenty. Not old enough to drink, I admit, but I did vote in the last election." He regarded Miles again. "I mean, you're, like, fifteen, right? That's a good five-year difference." The boy was definitely still smack in the middle of his awkward adolescence – no sign of facial hair, plus hands he had yet to grow into, plus the school boy haircut and argyle sweater just screamed high school nerd to Dave. Although Dave had always opted for sweatshirts over argyle, in every other way the boy reminded Dave of his younger self, right down to the inquisitive eyes and jaunty gait.

Miles folded his arms. "For your information, I'm sixteen-and-a-half, with a driver's license and everything. So, you're more like _three_ years older than me."

Dave snorted. "Well, I'm still legally an adult, and you aren't. Therefore, you're a kid. And you didn't answer my question."

"I live in Annapolis," Miles said, appraising the lanky college student. He seemed harmless enough. Miles certainly _wanted_ to trust the guy. But if there was anything he'd learned in the past few weeks, it was that appearances could be deceiving. So, drawing closer, Miles fixed a calculating gaze on the young man, drawing his right hand toward his pocket. "In fact, last thing I knew, I was still there,” he said slowly. “So, how exactly did I wake up on top of a skyscraper in New York?"

Dave cringed, shrinking in on himself as his mouth and hands tried to work around an explanation. "Look, I—I really don't know what happened. Well, I sort of do, but I don't think you'd believe it. _I_ barely believe it, and I certainly can't explain it. Really, I was just standing up here, minding my own business, and my ring went beserk, and then you and the other guy were just _there,_ and—"

Miles's eyebrows shot up. "Your ring?" His eyes darted to the college student's hand, spotting a large silver dragon ring.

Dave froze, then released a creaky, nervous laugh. "Oh, uh, I'm talking nonsense. I do that a lot. Let's just start over, forget I said anything, okay?" He forced a grin, a silent plea in his eyes.

Miles barely heard Dave's pitiful excuse, instead studying the ring. He could have sworn he'd seen one like it before. And he had the strangest feeling the ring was studying him as well, its emerald winking in the light. A low humming started in his ears, signaling a potential “migraine,” so he forced his attention away from the ring. "Sorry, what was that?" Miles said, massaging his throbbing temple.

"I-I was just saying we should start over," the older boy said. He stepped toward Miles. “Are you okay?”

Miles waved it off, giving his customary excuse, “A little headache. It's normal.”

Dave nodded tentatively, hoping the headache wasn't something the magic had done. He held out his hand. "Anyway, I'm Dave Stutler: physics nerd."

Miles glanced at the hand, the dragon ring perched comfortably on the pointer finger, then back up at Dave. Dave was hiding _something._ You didn't have to be an honors student (as Miles was) to see that. To the outside viewer, the hoodie guy's sketchy behavior was enough reason not to trust him, not to mention the mysterious nature of Miles's arrival

Yet, again, Miles _wanted_ to trust Dave. And even in a normal situation, trust wasn't something that came easily for him. The only other person who had won his trust so quickly was Allie Pennington. He had only met her a month before, but in that short time she'd become the best friend he'd never had.

His gravitation toward Allie, from the moment they met in Mr. Moore's European history class, had at first startled and horrified him. Miles tended to keep a solid barrier of snark and intellectual condescension between himself and his peers because, aside from the fact that nerds like him were on the low end of the high school social ladder, he was _sure_ no one, at Avalon High at least, would ever really understand him. So, why would the perky blonde new girl who seemed destined to be popular interest him this way? And why did she insist on calling him her friend?  


Eventually, he accepted fate and let her in. Now, he wouldn't have it any other way. Allie, he found to his delight, was like the Harry Potter to his Hermione Granger.

(And yes he was comparing himself to a female character, but to hell with gender roles.)

Hermione, despite her disapproval of Harry breaking the rules in the beginning, couldn't help getting drawn into his conversations and conflicts time and again, until they, with Ron, finally bonded over defeating the troll and became friends for life. There was no romance between them, despite what Ron, Rita Skeeter, and certain passionate shippers may have thought, but they were nonetheless _connected_. That was basically him and Allie, right down to “bonding over defeating a monster.”

If connecting to Allie could turn out so well, maybe following this same instinct and connecting to Dave would be the same.

With this in mind, he finally smiled at Dave, and replied, "Miles Ambrosi: National Merit Scholar." As the boys clasped hands, two strange events occurred. First, the other young man, still unconscious on the ground, shuddered as though something had moved through him. But Dave and Miles didn't notice. They _did,_ however, notice the dragon ring glow the moment it touched Miles's skin.

"Whoa!" Miles gasped, pulling his hand back.

"Gah!" Dave cried, trying to cover the ring with his other hand. _'Is this thing trying to kill me?'_ Dave's eyes flickered from the ring, which was losing its unnatural glow, to Miles's shocked expression, his stomach sinking. Times like this he wished Balthazar had taught him how to do Jedi mind tricks before tackling plasma bolts. "I – I, uh," Dave stuttered, then forced a smile and lied, "It...it...runs on batteries! Reacts to body heat. Cool, huh?" _'Please fall for it. Please fall for it. Please fall for it.'_

Miles snorted. "Batteries? Come on, even I can lie better than that, and trust me, that's saying something."

Dave sagged, facepalming his forehead. "Okay, this... this _really_ isn't what it looks like – "

"The ring is magic.”

And there it was. The m-word. Dave's heart clenched, as though that dragon from Chinatown had gotten its jaws around it. _'It's official: I'm_ _ **doomed**_ _.'_ Balthazar had told him point-blank that civilians couldn't find out about magic. But Dave couldn't see a way out of this (though, again, Jedi mind tricks would have been useful). So, sighing, he said, "All right, you got me. The ring is magic, and it brought you here.” He held up his hands. “B-but I didn't tell it to do that! It just kind of happened."

Miles nodded. Not only was the glowing a dead giveaway, but he'd sensed the ring's energy, like pinpricks of heat running over his hand. "Okay, so, is it just the ring that's magic, or are you …?"

Dave pinched his eyes shut "I'm a..." He stopped. This was the first time he'd had to tell someone what he was. Balthazar had already known, and the Morganians had figured it out. Actually saying the words out loud was... _hard_. Harder than any spell he'd tried so far. Saying it out loud made it all the more real, made it a part of who he was. But, the kid knew this much, so what else did he have to lose? "Well … I'm a _sorcerer._ "

A pause. Dave listened for Miles's reaction, too anxious to open his eyes.

“...A sorcerer?” Miles repeated slowly.

“Yup.”

“...Really?”

“Really.” He paused, then thought he should add, "Or, at least, I was learning to be one."

"… _Cool._ "

Dave's eyes flew open, and saw Miles grinning from ear to ear. "You—you're okay with all this? You're not freaking out that magic is real or something?"

Miles shook his head. "No, I'm good with that part."

"And you won't go telling people?"

"No, of course not."

Dave shook his head. "But... but... _why_? How are you okay with this? _I'm_ not even okay with this, and I'm the one with the magic!" He sighed. "And normal people aren't supposed to know, so I'm screwed either way."

Miles smirked. "Who said I was normal?"

Dave stared at Miles, mouth slightly ajar. "... Huh?"

Miles reached for his right pants pocket again, but this time fished something out. "I may not have a fancy ring, but this has been just as useful." He opened his hand to Dave, revealing a pen with a blue crystal on the end.

Dave raised an eyebrow. "That... is a pen."

Miles smirked. "That's what you think." He closed his eyes, clicked the pen, then opened his hand. A flurry of gold sparks sizzled around it, and before Dave could blink, it transformed into a tall, knobbly staff, topped by a much larger rough-cut blue crystal.

 

Once again, neither noticed the stirring of the young man on the ground .

 

Dave gaped at the staff, and then at Miles. "You have – but that means – " Dave's open mouth turned upwards into a smile. "You're a sorcerer! Like me!"

Miles shrugged. "Well, I call myself a wizard, but magic is magic, right?"

Dave gave two thumbs up. "Absolutely! And you aren't insane! That's a plus." Dave frowned and his eyes narrowed towards Miles. "At least, you don't seem insane. You aren't trying to kill me, are you?"

"No."

"Good. Had to make sure. It's nothing personal, but _every_ sorcerer I've met has tried to kill me." ' _Even the one who says he's “helping” me,'_ he thought. _'Though how throwing white hot balls of magical energy at me is "helpful," I have no idea.'_

Miles sighed. "I know the feeling. The only other sorcerer I've met was my _teacher._ One day he was all smiles and 'history is awesome!' Then that night he blasted me into a wall." The honors student crossed his arms and grumbled, "And I thought I was his favorite student."

Dave winced. "Ouch. That sucks. Is he still your teacher?"

Miles smiled. "No. After we stopped his evil plan, he was, quote-on-quote 'given a leave of absence' for claiming a student attacked him with a sword." He shrugged. "The ironic thing is, that was the one thing he _wasn't_ crazy about."

Dave goggled at him. "You attacked him with a _sword_?! _"_

Miles flexed a skinny arm. "Do I look like the sword-and-shield type? No, that was my friend, Allie. She totally owned Mr. Moore. I just helped even the playing field with this baby," he said as he stroked the staff.

Suddenly, a groan bubbled from behind them. The sorcerers turned and finally noticed the third man.

Dave scowled. "Aw crud. I forgot about him." Today just wasn't his day. Dave marched over and bent down to shake him awake. "Hey, man, you up? You okay?" But of course now, the man laid still. Dave shook his head. "Nope, still out.” Rubbing his chin, he wondered, “Geez, what are we gonna do with him? He's been out a while, I feel like we should get him indoors." After a moment of silence, Dave turned back toward the other boy. "Miles?"

The teenager stared, stunned, at the prone figure on the ground, a profound sense of _wrong_ pervading him, right down to his core. It was like Neville looking into the Rememberall, knowing he'd forgotten _something_ _–_ something quite important – but unable to grasp what it was. The gears in his head whirred and sputtered, trying to place the young man in his mind. They couldn't have met before, could they? Yet there _was_ something familiar about him – the high cheekbones, the red neckerchief...

 

_He was kneeling by a lake, seeing his face's reflection in the smooth surface of the water. Then, the water rippled, swirling and distorting the image. When it resettled, the reflection showed not Miles's face, but the stranger's, the eyes open to reveal a bright, piercing blue. The reflection smirked, before his eyes glowed molten gold..._

 

"Dude!"

Miles shuddered as the real world came back into focus, only to find Dave staring warily.

"What happened?" Dave asked.

"Um... sorry," Miles muttered, blushing, "Spaced out. Low blood sugar, you know. Happens a lot."

“I thought it was headaches you got a lot.”

Miles hesitated, then corrected, “Right, headaches... which are caused by low blood sugar.” Not a great excuse, but it was the best he could come up with, his mind reeling over what he'd just seen. That vision, if it was that, wasn't normal. Even for him. However, he decided to worry about it later. "What were you saying before?"

Dave frowned – Miles wasn't kidding about his own lack of lying skills. But he felt no need to push the issue, so he simply repeated, "I want to move this guy somewhere indoors, lay him up on a bed or a couch. But I don't want to call an ambulance, 'cause there'll be too many questions. And we certainly can't carry him, 'cause that would look weird."

Miles nodded, "Yeah, that's an understatement." Miles looked back to the strange figure. "Does he look familiar to you? Or is that just me?"

Dave frowned. "Huh." Dave kneeled down to get a closer look at the guy. "Actually, he looks a little like..." Dave shook his head. The facial shape and long, straight nose reminded him a bit of an illustration in the Encantus, his spellbook, but he couldn't think of who it was supposed to be. Dave shrugged and stood up again. "Well, we can't think about it now. We've got to move him."

“Well, can you apparate?" Miles asked, only half-joking.

"Can I _what_?"

"Apparition? Y'know, what they call teleporting in Harry Potter?"

"Oh. Harry Potter. Right.” Dave grimaced, folding his arms over his chest. “Guess I never read that far."

Miles frowned."You...you haven't read Harry Potter?"

Dave shrugged, avoiding his eyes. "I tried the first two books a long time ago, before the first film came out. But I never really got into it. Not a big deal."

“So... you haven't seen the movies either?” Miles stated, looking at Dave as though he came from another planet. “Any of them?”

“Aside from the second half of the first one? Nope,” he said, popping the “p” sound.

“What about _The Hobbit_? _Eragon_? _Matilda_? Percy Jackson? Tamora Pierce? The Dark is Rising? _So You Want to Be a Wizard?"_

“Sorry, Miles, no,” Dave replied with a shrug.

“Oh,” Miles muttered. “That's...that's too bad.” He tried not to let it show, but he was disappointed. He'd always imagined if he found another sorcerer he'd be able to talk Harry Potter and fantasy fiction with him/her.

Because maybe Harry Potter wasn't the same kind of magic he or Dave did (look, Ma, no wands), but it was still about growing up and feeling different from everyone else, only to discover that what made you different could make you great. If anyone could relate to that series, he figured someone like Dave, who was so much like himself, would be just the guy.

(Yet, Miles noticed a haunted look cross Dave's face. Perhaps there was more to this than just a dislike of good literature.)

 

He asked again whether Dave had a spell that could whisk them away somewhere else.

Dave shook his head. "I've seen a lot of crazy things, but not a teleportation spell.” He glanced at the steel eagles again. “I could maybe— _maybe_ —animate something to take us where we want to go, but even if I got it to work, we could still be noticed. Plus, I haven't got my spellbook on hand."

“Well, that's unfortunate.”

“You got a spellbook?”

"Ah, _my_ spellbook would be back in Annapolis. Although...” Miles bit his lip, then said, “my magic does tend to act on instinct. Sometimes the words will just come to me, sometimes my magic will react without words, and sometimes nothing happens at all."

"So basically, we're a couple of amateur sorcerers stuck at the top of the Chrysler Building and neither of us is competent enough to do anything."

"Pretty much."

"Fantastic."

Miles added, more thoughtfully, "Maybe if we combined our powers?"

Dave snorted. "What are we, the Wonder Twins?"

Miles's eyes glinted up at the taller boy. "Do you have any better ideas?"

Dave pulled his chin back, surprised at how intimidating the kid could be. "Fine." Then, snapping his fingers, he said, "Why don't we aim for my apartment? My roommate won't be back for a few hours since he has a date tonight."

"Sounds like a plan," Miles agreed, nodding. "Now, how do we do this?"

 

After a few minutes of brainstorming off each other, they decided to each crouch down on one side of the stranger, before Miles would touch his staff to Dave's ring, so that Dave could direct Miles's magic to teleport them. The boys got into position, then Dave said, "Okay. I think we're good. Now, I'll focus on my apartment, you try to come up with an incantation."

"Right," Miles said, "If I can't, I'll just feed my powers into you through the staff. On three, we bring them together. One..."

Dave closed his eyes, focusing on his mental reconstruction of his apartment.

"Two..."

Both prayed not to get blown up.

"Three!"

Dave stretched his ring finger out to Miles, who carefully tilted the ancient wooden staff toward Dave's ring. Just like before, the ring's jewel began glowing green, while the large gem on the staff radiated an electric blue aura, sending shocks of energy down the arms of their wielders. An incantation rose in Miles's mind, but before he could utter it, the man below them shuddered violently. Another voice, low and reverent as if in prayer, spoke Miles's incantation aloud:

" _Ásetaþ."_

Their eyes shot open, staring at each other before looking down at the stranger. His eyes were still closed, but there was no doubt he had chanted the spell, his brow creased in effort. Before either could marvel at this, or wonder if he was conscious, cold, spidery fingers grasped both their outstretched arms. " _Ásetaþ!"_ the stranger chanted louder, his hands suddenly warm on their skin as his glassy eyes, half open, revealed glowing gold irises.

"Whoa!" Dave cried as the auras of the staff and ring increased to a blinding light. Eyes prickling, he withdrew his gaze. He _wanted_ to withdraw from the whole spell, but his body felt frozen as fiery magic, more intense than anything he'd experienced, shot through his veins and spilled out through the ring. He didn't _want_ to like this sensation...

But he _did._

Miles, though similarly swept up in the energy of the spell, instead welcomed the feeling completely. In turn, his own magic surged to embrace him, as though it had missed him, filling him whole. He gasped as his eyes burned.

The air shifted, and the two sorcerers braced themselves as the world around them disappeared...

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo? What'd you think? Who is this powerful stranger? Why do Miles and Dave find him familiar? What's with that coincidence of Dave's ring summoning two people who also have magic? We shall see! Until then, some ending notes:
> 
> 1\. I will be changing aspects of Dave and Miles's backstories to fit with the Merlin universe and with how I see the characters. Additionally, I changed the appearance of Miles's staff from the film (see comment 5). These are artistic decisions, so if you see similar continuity discrepancies these are conscious changes.
> 
> 2\. Ásetaþ (pronounced ah-say-tahth, according to some sites) = to transport
> 
> 3\. Did anyone notice the Percy Jackson film shout out? ;)
> 
> 4\. The original Avalon High novel takes place in Annapolis, Maryland. I don't know if that's the case for the film, but they never offered another name so I stuck with the novel's setting.
> 
> 5\. Miles's last name is completely original for the story, since he is the only character who didn't exist in the original book and thus was never given a last name. Connected to this, I changed the description of Miles's staff from the original film because it was just too perfect to pass up making a certain connection. See if you can guess what's going on.
> 
> 6\. Yes, I will be mercilessly referencing Harry Potter a lot in this story. After all, I feel works like Sorcerer's Apprentice and Merlin may not have come to be if Harry Potter didn't exist, and I can see Miles being a huge Potterhead. Apologies if I spoil anything, but I'll try to avoid it.
> 
> And that is that, until next time. Please comment or message! A review is always appreciated :)
> 
> ~*Astraea*

**Author's Note:**

> I have a tumblr for this fic in which I post a lot of Merlin, Sorcerer's Apprentice, and Avalon High related stuff. It even has character pages and links to the unrevised chapters on fanfiction.net so if you'd like to check them out: http://astraea802.tumblr.com


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